“We think of the sabbatical as the basketball Peace Corps,’’ said Kittredge’s wife, Lindsey, a Wellesley native who played three sports at the Rivers School in Weston, captained the lacrosse team at the University of Vermont, and, after a career in computers, is the executive director of Shooting Touch.
In 2004, Justin Kittredge was laid off at Reebok.
“It was a tough time for me,’’ said Kittredge, now 35.
He had time on his hands, so he retreated to what always eased his mind: basketball. Kittredge played at Barnstable High and Northfield Mount Hermon School. In 2000, he graduated from James Madison University.
When he was laid off, he landed a job with a small shoe company, and served as an assistant coach for the Bay State Magic, an Amateur Athletic Union team. In 2006, he was rehired by Reebok, Kittredge said. “I didn’t have time to coach anymore.’’
He was living in South Boston and began teaching the fundamentals of basketball to a few city youths on weekends at the Boston Athletic Club.
“The kids started bringing their friends.’’ said Kittredge. “I was getting kids from Lynn and Dorchester. After a year I had 15, 20 kids’’
It wasn’t just hoops he wanted to offer, he said. “I wanted to mentor the kids, too. I really enjoyed helping them out.’’
Basketball couldn’t do it all. That’s where the grants came in.
A Dorchester resident, Boston College High graduate Tome Barros was the first recipient of a Shooting Touch grant. He attended Hampton University in Virginia, and was pondering his future after graduation in 2010.
“I wondered what was next for me,’’ said Barros.
He was told about Shooting Touch, and visited its website.
With a $25,000 grant flashing on the screen, “my eyes lit up,’’ said Barros. “I figured this was right up my alley.’’
Barros could travel and be involved with basketball, which he had played in high school. He wrote several essays required by the program’s board of directors.
“I also sent them a YouTube video I was very proud of,’’ he said.
Poised and articulate, Barros was a unanimous selection.
